T5's: A cautionary note

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obi-dad, I'm not sure if the super blue is actinic or not, but from the pictures that grim posted...it looks actinic to me....awesome actinic. Without seeing the bulb specs, I cant really tell what nm the bulb hits at...but I like what I see..and so does grim.

So if I replace one of my Sun bulbs with this Superblue, are my corals not going to grow as fast? What about if I replace it with a Catalina actinic, will the corals grow slower still?

I guess Im having a hard time figuring out the PAR vs lux vs wavelengths of usable light in a full spectrum bulb. My VHO actinic is good when running 2 T5s..but cant keep up with 4 T5s. I need to replace one full spectrum with a T5 actinic of some sort, but I dont want to lose out on a lot of coral growth because of it.

Any suggestions?
 
codeman, I haven't seen the helios or catalina bulbs, but usually 'actinic' means more toward the purple than the bluish photos I have seen here. I think some manufactures say 'actinic' for bulbs that are really 'blue'. I think the original actinic bulbs were the T12 Philips 03 which were very purple. I would like to see the helios and catalina bulbs in person, I will try to find someone local who has them. With the ATI/DD bulbs, the 'blue' is much better looking than the actinic, IMO.
 
I can post a pic of 4- 80w T5 Catalina actinics If it will help?
BTW, I'm colorblind, so I couldn't tell you if it looks blue or purple.:D
 
Quick question on ballasting-

Can a workhorse 7 run 4x54W T5 or not? I dont think so, but it does say maximum 220W and that it can run T5 HO on Reefgeek site.

Thanks.

Chris
 
Funky_Fish14 said:
Quick question on ballasting-

Can a workhorse 7 run 4x54W T5 or not? I dont think so, but it does say maximum 220W and that it can run T5 HO on Reefgeek site.

Thanks.

Chris
Click to expand...

yep it will work. i run 3x39 t5ho from my 1 w5 no issues, even 8 months later
 
The superblue is sort of an actinic lamp. It has a 420nm spike but also another up in the 480 range. They will market it as a 450. The light it prduces is hard to describe. It is like a deep aquablue (not purple in any way, shape or form) that is a bright color but it is not a really bright light. It is kinda like looking at a blacklite poster. The whites and colors really pop and the shawdows look like you would expect. It is sort of like a brighter colered blueplus that fluoresces more and produces less visible light.

I am also getting shimmer lines down to the sandbed which is bizzarre. The lamps are now in the halide hood behind the UV shield. With the 250 watt halides running turning the 2 4 foot T5's on added over 10 UMOL's of PAR. Even running 14K EVC lamps these babies make a noticable difference.

By the way, 6x80 watt Ice Cap ballasted T5's PAR 18" below surface 145 UMOL's. 250 watt EVC 14K DE halides on EVC e ballast PAR taken in the same level, 94 UMOL's. No wonder I aint getting the growth out of the monti's I used to.
 
I finally broke down and decided to get to by stronger lights. For years I've used 5 36" NO bulbs over my 75G w/ 4" DSB. My Polyps and Shrooms have grown very well under these lights. I'm upgrading to 4 54W T5's after my failed attempt at overdriving NO bulbs. How should I acclimate my corals and rock to the new lights?

11000K
11000K
Actinic ( Only remaining NO bulb)
GE 6500K
11000K

Thanks.
 
Make sure the actinic is in front of the 6500K lamp. That might still look a little yellow with three 11K's. I'd start out for a week or so with 2 11K and add the other 2 lamps in slowly, like a couple hours a day and work up from there.
 
Thanks Grim Reefer. My actinic is currently in the center, and I had not planned on moving it.

I ordered the Tek retro kit from ReefGeek.com . I plan on one ballast running two lights in front of the actinic and one for the two after the actinic. Can these ballasts safely run one bulb? I was planning mounting both ballasts and all 8 end caps in the hood.Then running 1 light before and 1 after the actinic. Then gradually add the other two bulbs.

Where do people usually mount the ballasts? For years I've used duel tube strip lights from HomeDepot mounted in my canopy. The ballast is inside of the steel strips. I plan on leaving the glass top on the tank, so there should be little moisture in the canopy.
 
If you can, mount the ballasts to the back side of the canopy. Most T5 ballasts need to have both lamps in to work. If your lamps haven't shipped yet I'd suggest getting a blueplus and running it with the 6500 and 2 aquablues. I'd mount the 6500 in the slot behind the VHO actinic.
 
Well, the canopy is open in the back and is only 3 - 4" above the glass top. Once I have the ballasts, I'll see if I can find a electrical box(metal or plastic) from Home Depot.

The order has not shipped. I placed it a few minutes before I made this post. I'll see if I can change it.

My Actinic is not VHO, it is NO. I hope this will work OK. It currently comes on 30 minutes before the first bank of 10000K and turns off 30 minutes after the 2nd bank of 10000K's. I planned on using the same scheme.

So you suggest?

11000K
11000K
Actinic
6500K
Blue Plus
 
Get a Blueplus or a Helios superblue. The NO will do OK but the aquablues are almost crystal white, not much blue so they might not balance the color of the 6500 very well. Horkn runs a NO actinic with his T5s but he runs 1 GE and 2 bluepluses and seems happy with the color,
 
horkn said:
yep it will work. i run 3x39 t5ho from my 1 w5 no issues, even 8 months later
Click to expand...

Great thanks for the info. So 3 or 4 24W would do find on a WH 5? Anyone else run T5 HO's on Workhorse ballast? Thanks.

Chris
 
I don't run them yet but I was dying to ask the question. I have two WH 5's currently collecting dust until my new tank is finished. Was thinking about running 2 x 54 on each ballast. From what I've read, it should work out ok.
 
Funky_Fish14 said:
Great thanks for the info. So 3 or 4 24W would do find on a WH 5? Anyone else run T5 HO's on Workhorse ballast? Thanks.

Chris
Click to expand...

the w5 will run 4x24

i seem to be one of the few workhorse users...

most think that using the W ballasts will burn out t5ho bulbs intantly i guess.

been 8 months now, no prob..


grimmy, the NO actinic i use is overpowered by the t5s.. it is mainly a dusk dawn thing for me
 
With his mix of lamps the actinic might be more noticable, dunno.

I found another advantage of the superblue lamps. I am finding orange zoos all over my tank. These things are worse than the Borg. Time to visit the LFS I guess:p
 
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